Cities and Memory - remixing the world

Cities and Memory - remixing the world

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Cities and Memory - remixing the world episodes

  • 2901: At the heart of government
    Will Cohen made a series of recordings around London just before the Covid-19 lockdown in March, to capture the changing sounds of a city dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. 
    "In the final days before London was shut down in March 2020, I made sound recordings of areas that I care about as a Londoner. From documenting spots that I skated at as a teenager, through to areas I have worked in - I wanted to see what familiar sounds still resonated at this unprecedented time. I used the binaural microphone technique - if you close your eyes and imagine, the physics behind this method of sound capture will immerse you in a 3D stereo environment pictured in the stills that I took on my journey."
    "Just off Westminster Bridge, Parliament Square is normally crammed with people protesting, tourists visiting the nearby Abbey, or skaters like my younger self throwing ourselves down the steps."
    Part of the #StayHomeSounds project, documenting the sounds of the global coronavirus lockdown around the world - for more information, see http://www.citiesandmemory.com/covid19-sounds
    5 min
  • 2902: The London Eye is closed
    Will Cohen made a series of recordings around London just before the Covid-19 lockdown in March, to capture the changing sounds of a city dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. 
    "In the final days before London was shut down in March 2020, I made sound recordings of areas that I care about as a Londoner. From documenting spots that I skated at as a teenager, through to areas I have worked in - I wanted to see what familiar sounds still resonated at this unprecedented time. I used the binaural microphone technique - if you close your eyes and imagine, the physics behind this method of sound capture will immerse you in a 3D stereo environment pictured in the stills that I took on my journey."
    "This park on the right would normally be jammed with office workers having lunch, and tourists waiting for their turn on the Millennium Wheel. It's blissfully quiet bar the subtle sounds of security radios in the background."
    Part of the #StayHomeSounds project, documenting the sounds of the global coronavirus lockdown around the world - for more information, see http://www.citiesandmemory.com/covid19-sounds
    5 min
  • 2905: Near-silence in Trafalgar Square
    Will Cohen made a series of recordings around London just before the Covid-19 lockdown in March, to capture the changing sounds of a city dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. 
    "In the final days before London was shut down in March 2020, I made sound recordings of areas that I care about as a Londoner. From documenting spots that I skated at as a teenager, through to areas I have worked in - I wanted to see what familiar sounds still resonated at this unprecedented time. I used the binaural microphone technique - if you close your eyes and imagine, the physics behind this method of sound capture will immerse you in a 3D stereo environment pictured in the stills that I took on my journey."
    "Surrounded by The National Gallery and St Martin-in-the-Fields where I spent a year singing as a chorister, this is typically packed with hordes of sightseers."
    Part of the #StayHomeSounds project, documenting the sounds of the global coronavirus lockdown around the world - for more information, see http://www.citiesandmemory.com/covid19-sounds
    5 min
  • 2903: A ghostly Covent Garden
    Will Cohen made a series of recordings around London just before the Covid-19 lockdown in March, to capture the changing sounds of a city dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. 
    "In the final days before London was shut down in March 2020, I made sound recordings of areas that I care about as a Londoner. From documenting spots that I skated at as a teenager, through to areas I have worked in - I wanted to see what familiar sounds still resonated at this unprecedented time. I used the binaural microphone technique - if you close your eyes and imagine, the physics behind this method of sound capture will immerse you in a 3D stereo environment pictured in the stills that I took on my journey."
    "Packed with antiques and craft stalls, Covent Garden is usually buzzing with people on holiday looking for something to remember from their trip, The Apple Market is at the centre of this iconic shopping, food and cultural destination."
    Part of the #StayHomeSounds project, documenting the sounds of the global coronavirus lockdown around the world - for more information, see http://www.citiesandmemory.com/covid19-sounds
    5 min
  • 2900: Oxford Circus - just before the shutdown
    Will Cohen made a series of recordings around London just before the Covid-19 lockdown in March, to capture the changing sounds of a city dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. 
    "In the final days before London was shut down in March 2020, I made sound recordings of areas that I care about as a Londoner. From documenting spots that I skated at as a teenager, through to areas I have worked in - I wanted to see what familiar sounds still resonated at this unprecedented time. I used the binaural microphone technique - if you close your eyes and imagine, the physics behind this method of sound capture will immerse you in a 3D stereo environment pictured in the stills that I took on my journey."
    "Just before the shutdown of all nonessential business in London, I captured Oxford Circus again. Now just the sounds of one of the preachers often found at this crossroads can be heard."
    Part of the #StayHomeSounds project, documenting the sounds of the global coronavirus lockdown around the world - for more information, see http://www.citiesandmemory.com/covid19-sounds
    5 min
  • 2898: On Hungerford footbridge
    Will Cohen made a series of recordings around London just before the Covid-19 lockdown in March, to capture the changing sounds of a city dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. 
    "In the final days before London was shut down in March 2020, I made sound recordings of areas that I care about as a Londoner. From documenting spots that I skated at as a teenager, through to areas I have worked in - I wanted to see what familiar sounds still resonated at this unprecedented time. I used the binaural microphone technique - if you close your eyes and imagine, the physics behind this method of sound capture will immerse you in a 3D stereo environment pictured in the stills that I took on my journey."
    "Growing up in London and spending time skating at the Southbank Centre at the weekend, I would regularly come over this busy rail and pedestrian bridge that joins Southbank to Embankment. The trains hidden behind the image, slowly rumble through as they approach Charing Cross."
    Part of the #StayHomeSounds project, documenting the sounds of the global coronavirus lockdown around the world - for more information, see http://www.citiesandmemory.com/covid19-sounds
    5 min
  • 2897: A deserted Leicester Square
    Will Cohen made a series of recordings around London just before the Covid-19 lockdown in March, to capture the changing sounds of a city dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. 
    "In the final days before London was shut down in March 2020, I made sound recordings of areas that I care about as a Londoner. From documenting spots that I skated at as a teenager, through to areas I have worked in - I wanted to see what familiar sounds still resonated at this unprecedented time. I used the binaural microphone technique - if you close your eyes and imagine, the physics behind this method of sound capture will immerse you in a 3D stereo environment pictured in the stills that I took on my journey."
    "As a kid I spent a lot of time in the London Trocadero arcades just around the corner from this spot. Shot just a stone's throw from the main pedestrian square and cinemas, this is where everyone and their family come to get their tickets for the West End theatres."
    Part of the #StayHomeSounds project, documenting the sounds of the global coronavirus lockdown around the world - for more information, see http://www.citiesandmemory.com/covid19-sounds
    5 min
  • 2899: Ghost town Oxford Circus
    Will Cohen made a series of recordings around London just before the Covid-19 lockdown in March, to capture the changing sounds of a city dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. 
    "In the final days before London was shut down in March 2020, I made sound recordings of areas that I care about as a Londoner. From documenting spots that I skated at as a teenager, through to areas I have worked in - I wanted to see what familiar sounds still resonated at this unprecedented time. I used the binaural microphone technique - if you close your eyes and imagine, the physics behind this method of sound capture will immerse you in a 3D stereo environment pictured in the stills that I took on my journey."
    "This junction normally holds together one of the busiest concentrations of consumerism in London. I have spent countless times queuing here to try to get into the tube at the end of a day’s work. This recording captures the reassuring sound of the local Hare Krishna group when other street musicians had fallen silent."
    Part of the #StayHomeSounds project, documenting the sounds of the global coronavirus lockdown around the world - for more information, see http://www.citiesandmemory.com/covid19-sounds
    5 min
  • 2896: The Bank of England
    Will Cohen made a series of recordings around London just before the Covid-19 lockdown in March, to capture the changing sounds of a city dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. 
    "In the final days before London was shut down in March 2020, I made sound recordings of areas that I care about as a Londoner. From documenting spots that I skated at as a teenager, through to areas I have worked in - I wanted to see what familiar sounds still resonated at this unprecedented time. I used the binaural microphone technique - if you close your eyes and imagine, the physics behind this method of sound capture will immerse you in a 3D stereo environment pictured in the stills that I took on my journey."
    "The Bank of England is the city’s financial heart - I had an administrative job here when I left school and spent two months eating sandwiches at this spot, teaming with suits and business chat."
    Part of the #StayHomeSounds project, documenting the sounds of the global coronavirus lockdown around the world - for more information, see http://www.citiesandmemory.com/covid19-sounds
    5 min
  • 2895: Fenêtre sur cour
    Paris lockdown sound recorded by Paul Collins. 
    ""Fenêtre sur cour," of course, is the French title of Hitchcock's Rear Window. This is a recording my courtyard on Thursday, March 26, 2020 at 19h58. 
    "We hear a neighbour who, like in Rear Window, is a professional songwriter,  playing his piano, searching for a song. 
    "We hear a perpetually bored child running around in circles, his exasperated parents yelling, and at 10 seconds before 8pm, we hear applause from the distant street, before its taken up in the courtyard. These are the nightly applause for the nation's belaboured medical professionals."
    Part of the #StayHomeSounds project, documenting the sounds of the global coronavirus lockdown around the world - for more information, see http://www.citiesandmemory.com/covid19-sounds
    3 min

About Cities and Memory - remixing the world

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Cities and Memory remixes the world, one sound at a time - a global collaboration between artists and sound recordists all over the world.